Prosciutto bread, also called lard bread, is exactly what it sounds like: a loaf of bread enriched with lard and stuffed with salty chunks of cured prosciutto.
You may call it prosciutto bread, lard bread, or frittola bread (the name my family uses). But this bread is so tasty it doesn’t really matter what you call it. This recipe is by no means a quick one – it takes two rises – but it is totally worth it. And if you’ve ever baked bread, the steps are not much more complicated than that. Make a yeast dough, roll it out and shower it with prosciutto, bits of crispy pancetta and cubes of provolone cheese, then roll it up, twist and shape it into a ring, and bake.
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
Prosciutto bread (aka lard bread, aka frittola bread) was a staple of my childhood. Every Friday afternoon after school, my dad, my brother and I would head to our weekend house in Kingston, NY. Of course we always stopped at my grandparents’ house for dinner on our way up (and on our way back; Friday night was homemade pizza night, Sunday was pasta with meatballs and gravy). As part of our route from Manhattan to Queens, we went through Little Italy. Like clockwork, every Friday between 4 and 5 o’clock, we pulled up in front of Parisi Bakery, one of the neighborhoods oldest and best Italian bakeries. While Parisi is known for a number of Italian delicacies, we were there for one thing only: prosciutto bread.
My dad would double park on narrow Mott street, and I would jump out of the car to run inside for the bread. Sometimes they even had it ready for us. We always got two loaves; one as a snack in the car on our way to Queens, and the other to bring to my grandparents. By the time I got back to the car, the paper bakery bag was already stained through with grease. If it was summertime and we had the car windows rolled down I would hold chunks of the bread out the window on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, breaking pieces off to avoid showering the inside of the car with flaky crumbs. I miss those afternoons more than I can express. But the taste of that prosciutto bread’s crispy pork and the kick of it’s black pepper still remain in the back of my throat.
Long after those Friday afternoons, prosciutto bread continues to be a staple in my family. My dad often gives up meat for Lent. And while others may choose to break a meat-free fast on a prime steak or juicy burger, he always breaks it on prosciutto bread. It’s almost always on the table as part of our antipasto spread before any holiday meal.
“FRITTOLA” BREAD”
Most people know it by the name prosciutto bread or lard bread, but in my family we’ve always called it “frittola” bread. While looking for inspiration for this recipe, I did multiple Google searches (with multiple spellings) for frittola bread and came up with absolutely nothing. Are we the only ones who call it that? I asked my dad if he knew why we called it this, and assumed the same thing I always had: that the word was used to describe the little crispy bits of pork, coming from the Italian friggere (to fry” or frittella (fritter).
Finally I stumbled an article for “frittula,” a traditional Scicilian street food that is essentially the off-cuts and unused portions of veal, fried in lard and served crispy and hot in a cone. There is also a Calabrian version of this dish, “Frìttuli,” made with pork. My guess is that the term “frittola” bread used for prosciutto bread came from this street food, made up of fried bits of pork, much like the bits that the prosciutto bread is stuffed with.
MAKING PROSCIUTTO BREAD AT HOME
I knew I had a lot to live up to when trying my hand at making prosciutto bread. I wanted to stick as close as possible to the prosciutto bread of my childhood. The one from Parisi bakery had a twisted, flaky crust, tons of black pepper and crispy fried bits of pork. The consensus in my house was to add provolone cheese. While Parisi Bakery doesn’t do this, I know many other bakeries that do, so I gave in. What could be wrong with provolone cheese?
I always remembered a mix of meats in Parisi’s prosciutto bread. So on top of classic prosciutto I used bits of crispy fried pancetta. The key to this recipe is the lard (hence the moniker “lard bread”). It is both in the dough, and brushed on top before and after cooking. And don’t forget the all important twist before you bake! That’s what gives the bread its flaky crust.
I can honestly say that this prosciutto bread did justice to the frittola bread of my childhood. In fact, when it came out of the oven it smelled so good that our friend Josh (who was over for dinner), a strict pescatarian, insisted of having a piece. If this bread can convert even pescatarians, you know it’s got to be good.
Prosciutto Bread (AKA Lard Bread, AKA Frittola Bread
Equipment
- 1 pizza stone or large cast iron cooking surface
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cup flour, plus more if needed
- 1 packet dry instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1-2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp lard (pork fat, or vegetable shortening)
- 1/2 cup provolone cheese, cut into 1/2 in cubes
- 1/4 cup pancetta, diced
- 8 oz sliced prosciutto, diced
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine yeast, warm water and sugar. Let rest until bubbly, 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon melted lard, salt, pepper and flour and mix until dough comes together. Knead by hand or using dough hook on mixer (on medium) for ten minutes. Dough should be sticking to the bottom of the bowl, but if it seems too sticky and is sticking to the sides, add 1 tablespoon more flour at a time as needed. Oil a large bowl and place dough inside. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- While the dough rises, fry the diced pancetta in a small skillet over medium-high heat until rendered and crispy.
- Invert dough out onto large sheet of floured parchment paper. Roll into a a large oval, approximately 15in by 12in. Spread prosciutto, pancetta and provolone on top. From the long end, roll dough into a log and twist the dough. Form dough into a ring. Cover with a tea towel and let rise again, 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400. Place pizza stone or large cast iron cooking vessel in oven while it heats. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of lard and brush onto bread. When oven is heated, remove pizza stone and use parchment to transfer bread onto it. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with remaining 1 tablespoon melted lard.
THIS is what I’ve been looking for! I’m going to make it this weekend!
I don’t have a mixer can I still make it
Yes most definitely. You can mix the ingredients into a shaggy dough, then knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and glossy, and can be tugged on without tearing. Then follow the rest of the recipe.
I’ve baked two batches each giving me two batards from each batch. Growing up we got our Lard bread from Caputo’s in Brooklyn and they were always in batard shape… I also twisted one to see what that would turn out like… Both baked up beautifully. Crispy crust but not too hard… sort of in between a flaky fluffy consistent crumb. I did use about 55 G of Duram flour and the rest bread flour…. I used a tablespoon of sugar instead of a teaspoon and was probably quite a bit more generous with meat and provolone… And added a little bit of pecorino Romano.
I also preheated the oven to 500° after transferring the dough with parchment paper onto the stone … Threw some ice cubes on the bottom of my oven quickly shut the door to trap as much steam as possible to make the crust just right. I reduced the heat to 450 as soon as I put the loaf in the oven and baked for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I lowered the temperature to 425 turned the stone halfway around so things would bake evenly brushed with lard and baked for another 20 to 25 minutes… Loosely covering the loaf the last 10 minutes with tin foil so that it didn’t get too dark. Wish I could post a picture they turned out beautifully.. love love this recipe!
Will keep making over and over!